Undoubtedly the biggest strength of this book was the writing. It was incredibly descriptive and filled with tension and foreboding, and that more than compensated for the relatively slow pace. Much of it is driven by the setting, which is synonymous with the story and provides the basis for numerous metaphors and analogies that are evident right from the beginning. Memorable and compelling. A novel about what haunts us - and what should.' -Sarah Moss, author of The Times Book of the Year Ghost Wall I thought I might be a retelling of a traditional story, and I might have been in the beginning; but in time that story was subverted quite beautifully, and I found that the truth of this story and its characters were not at all as I had expected. Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting, this is a stark evocation of a community where fear of the outsider is rife and unsettling. Daily Mail

Century Iceland: Witchcraft is punishable by death. Women are held submissive by virtue of Biblical scriptures. Food is scarce and the ocean is a death trap. The season of winter looms over villages like the shadow of the Engill dauðans. While the ending was fitting to an extent, it did not fulfil the promise of the early part of the book. It is hard to pinpoint where exactly things began to go wrong, but as the two storylines converged the story lost its fluidity, and the answers to the mysteries were not as breathtaking as I hoped or anticipated. The glass woman itself is actually fairly irrelevant to plot, instead playing more of a symbolic role. Some aspects of the plot were similar to The Miniaturist. Weird noise keeps Rósa awake at night and she is convinced that there are dark spirits at play in the settlement. With an unsupportive husband who is very commanding and the feeling of dread hanging over her, could Rósa’s life be in danger?, and can she solve the mystery of what happened to Jón’s first wife, the wife he refuses to talk about? The main story, however, takes place months earlier and centres on a young woman named Rósa. Living in a small, impoverished community, she fears her mother, Sigridúr, will not survive the winter unless she finds a way to pay for extra insulation and food. The solution is marriage to Jón, a wealthy bonði (chieftain of a settlement). Their union ensures Sigridúr's safety and comfort. But it also takes Rósa away from her home (and her first love Páll) to live with Jón in Stykkishólmur. There, she finds the villagers suspicious and fearful, whispering about the death of Jón's first wife Anna and warning Rósa against disobeying him. Twisty, dark and chillingly believable. The Glass Woman is a gripping exploration of memory, loss and AI.”Here are some of the excerpts of my discussions with Kriti as we read The Glass Woman. There may be some minor spoilers. I love books set in harsh bleak cold environments. This book is hauntingly atmospheric, cold and foreboding. The landscape and winter season are just as much a character in this book. Harsh, unforgiving and cold. This book felt Gothic in nature and has been compared to Jane Eyre and Rebecca. There is a dark mystery here as well as tales of longing and love. Lea crafts deeply intriguing characters while bringing to life their harsh landscape. Full of emotion, mystery, and suspense, this unique love story will keep readers guessing until the very end. Booklist Lea crafts deeply intriguing characters while bringing to life their harsh landscape. Full of emotion, mystery, and suspense, this unique love story will keep readers guessing until the very end.”— Booklist August 1686, Iceland. Rósa, the daughter of the late Bishop of Skalholt is living with her mother Sigridur in a little hut. They once lead a comfortable life, now after the death of her father, Rósa and her mother are struggling.

Rosa finds herself far from home, far from everything and everyone she has known, and married to Jon, leader of a remote Icelandic community. Given the mystery surrounding the death of Jon's first wife, hints of madness and a loft she is forbidden to enter from which strange noises seem to emanate at night, Rosa could be forgiven for thinking she's in some 17th century Icelandic version of Jane Eyre or Rebecca. Add to that Jon's reluctance to talk about his past and his command that Rosa should not mix with the other villagers and you've all the ingredients for a deliciously atmospheric Gothic-style mystery. A gorgeous book about the power of stories that makes the landscape of Iceland as powerful a character as any of the humans.' -Sarah Shaffi, Phoenix Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting, this is a stark evocation of a community where fear of the outsider is rife and unsettling.' - Daily Mail Jon is evasive and enigmatic, not allowing her to mix with the other villagers and rarely showing her any affection other than giving her a small glass figurine of a woman. He leaves Rosa alone in their croft for long periods of time, and she begins to hear strange noises from the attic she has been prevented from entering, which causes her to fear for her sanity.My second reservation was that the structure didn’t work as well as it should. At first the story was told purely from Rósa’s point of view, but some way into the book another perspective was added into the mix. I completely understood the need for that second voice, it enriched the story but I wish it had been introduced a little earlier and that the transitions had been done with a little more finesse. In the tradition of Jane Eyre and Rebecca — The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea in which a young woman follows her new husband to his remote home on the Icelandic coast in the 1680s, where she faces dark secrets surrounding the death of his first wife amidst a foreboding landscape and the superstitions of the local villagers. There she finds a man who refuses to speak of his recently deceased first wife, and villagers who view her with suspicion. The many intriguing questions that arose along the way promised a dramatic and tense conclusion, but that never really materialised. I was left underwhelmed at how some of the important plot points were resolved, although I could certainly appreciate the underlying themes and messages that the author attempted to convey, such as forbidden love. This is a wonderfully atmospheric book set in one of my favourite time periods and places. It has an interesting story and characters as well as stellar audio narrators…….yet I could never really connect with the story.

But the payoff is worth it: I was thoroughly captivated throughout and the ending(s) almost made me cry. I loved how The Glass Woman subverted expectations, particularly how it showed the power of gossip and hearsay in establishing 'facts' (and myths, and, in time, fairytales). In the end, practically nobody in the story plays the role they originally appear to be designed for. The villagers mistrust them both. Dark threats are whispered. There is an evil here – Rósa can feel it. Is it her husband, the villagers – or the land itself? Stepford Wives meets 2001 Space Odyssey, The Glass Woman is a twisty, thought-provoking read with characters full of heart engaging with the debate around AI in a truly inventive and original way.” Rósa follows her new husband, Jón, across the treacherous countryside to his remote home near the sea. There Jón works the field during the day, expecting Rósa to maintain their house in his absence with the deference of a good Christian wife. What Rósa did not anticipate was the fierce loneliness she would feel in her new home, where Jón forbids her from interacting with the locals in the nearby settlement and barely speaks to her himself.Anyone who has read Hannah Kent's novel, Burial Rites, already knows that croft-life in Iceland in the olden days was hard. In The Glass Woman we discover that 140 years earlier, it was even harder. Not enough food, warmth or light. Too much smoke, gossip and superstition. Haunting, evocative and utterly compelling. The Glass Woman transports the reader to a time and place steeped in mystery, where nothing is ever quite as it seems. Stunning.” — Tracy Borman, author of The King’s Witch